Bottom Line: Inequitable conduct is an often raised defense but rarely successful. As such, the courts have been shifting the burden of providing inequitable conduct so that the courts can get to the merits of the case more often. The failure to disclose material information to the patent office that may lead the examiner to reject a patent application during patent … [Read more...]
Inequitable conduct
Inequitable conduct is a defense to patent infringement and occurs when the applicant for patent breaches the applicant’s duty of condor and good faith to the USPTO in prosecuting the patent application.
Browse related articles below.
Inequitable conduct defense successful despite high standard
Inequitable conduct is a defense to patent infringement to avoid liability for patent infringement. However, inequitable conduct also offers a way to introduce unfavorable facts about the patent owner, inventors, etc. to paint the plaintiff as a bad actor and not as someone that has helped society in bringing forth the invention protected by the patent. It is a defense that … [Read more...]
Lying to the Patent Office invalidates patent
Lying to the Patent Office invalidates patent With Therasense, the Federal Circuit took a stance indicating that a charge of inequitable conduct would be very difficult to win. Inequitable conduct invalidates the patent. Inequitable conduct is a serious charge that is directed to the character of a person. Plus, defendants or alleged infringers were using the claim of … [Read more...]
Patent Office provides ways to late pay fees to keep a patent alive
The patent office provides due dates for various matters. Some of the due dates can be extended with payment of an extension fee. Responses or payment of maintenance fees can be paid even after all of the extensions have passed upon petition to the Patent Office. There are two types of petitions. (PTO Forms). One is based on an assertion that non-payment or non-response was … [Read more...]
No deliberate decision to withhold material information
Background on inequitable conduct Charges of inequitable conduct used to be favored by accused patent infringers even though these types of charges had a very low success rate because charges of inequitable conduct allowed the accused infringer to portray the patent owner as bad and undeserving of a favorable judgement. The Federal Circuit disfavored claims of inequitable … [Read more...]
Duty to disclose owed by everyone substantively involved
Once an application is filed, everyone substantively involved in the filing of the patent application owes a duty of candor and good faith to the Patent Office. This duty requires individuals to disclose (i.e., duty to disclose) relevant information to the Patent Office that is related to the invention, even information that might render the claimed invention unpatentable. … [Read more...]
Federal Circuit Resets the Rules for Inequitable Conduct
Inequitable conduct is a charge made by defendants in a patent infringement lawsuit to avoid liability for infringement of a patent. Inequitable conduct occurs when an applicant or someone associated with the filing of a patent application misleads a patent examiner that it warrants the court to make the patent unenforceable. Over a period of time, the courts have reduced … [Read more...]